Hiremath actions are low

In his latest book, “This Town,” political author, Mark Leibovich, illustrates how both politicians and the media use trivialities to distract voters from the real issues facing national, state and local communities. In this all too public world of selfies and sound-bites, we now have “self-service winning out over public service.” As a result, people spend far too much time reacting to other people who are deliberately trying to push their buttons and otherwise waste their valuable time with nonsense.

On the local level, I can’t think of a better example of this kind of behavior than our mayor’s fantasy Christmas Day diatribe against Councilmember Mike Zinkin. This rambling soliloquy was designed for no other purpose than to ruin the character, and the Christmas, of a benevolent and popular civil servant. It reeks of a last-ditch effort to collect more signatures for the politically motivated recall.

By contrast is Zinkin’s record as a member of the Oro Valley Town Council. When Mike Zinkin ran for council, he did so pledging that he would work for the citizens of Oro Valley and not the special interest groups. An example of Zinkin keeping that campaign promise was evident earlier this year when he worked closely with the residents of the Palisades neighborhood to arrange a private meeting between those citizens and the developer who is developing the land adjacent to their homes. To my knowledge, this is the first time that a councilmember has arranged a private meeting between residents and a developer.

In this season of good will towards men, Mayor Hiremath spent his time writing a poison pen letter to publish in the Christmas Day edition of The Explorer. That’s low by anyone’s standards. I think we’ve all had enough of this ill-mannered, bloviating mayor.